Alan and Pat live and work in Bordeaux. Alan is a pastor and Pat was a nurse. Now we work with UFM worldwide. Read on! (If you'd like to know what took us to Bordeaux, then start with the archives from September 2004)

Sunday, March 29, 2015

It's a man's life in Bordeaux sometimes!

Saturday started with me haring off to the Maison de la Bible for my morning stint.

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a plumber, who phoned to say he'd be coming Saturday afternoon. This gave us an immediate problem because the person who does Saturday afternoons normally doesn't come till pretty late, if at all. Leah came to my aid and I was relieved at my post at just before 2, then was given a lift home by Pierre le Grec.

Pierre le Grec had come into the shop with my old friend Heber, a student who I used to meet up with years ago. Heber is passing through Bordeaux on the way to visit his beloved in Slovakia, and he brought his customary smile, good humour and a touch of Haitian sunshine to a grey Bordeaux day.

The plumber didn't come.

At five I left for the long and winding journey to Cenon for the Chinese group. Big mistake. The roads were CLOGGED with cars after a football match and the bus was about 1/2 hour late by the time we got to the tram stop. Still, I had a nice nap on the bus!

Still it was a happy time with the Chinese, who again told me that I have not mastered the pronunciation of ANY of their first names.

Back to the bus stop in time for the 10:10 bus 4 to not come, then to take the 11pm instead. Very thankful that it came. On the tram we chatted with a medical student in his sixth year, who is supervised by our next-door neighbour.

On the bus I dozed off again, and awoke to find the same chap standing right next to me. It turns out that he lives in a flat at the end of our road and he knows me because I say "Good morning" to him as he stands on his balcony to have a smoke. We chatted about his job, his family circumstances, his flat and so on.